Born a King, always a King

Reon Dane King, the tremendously improved and talented Guyanese
West Indian fast bowler, does not come from a long line of fast
bowlers. Indeed, between the last World War in 1945 and now,
Guyana has only produced four West Indian Test fast bowlers.
Even stranger than that, it does seem that a fast bowler is
produced by Guyana; at least one good enough to go to the top and
play test cricket; every 15 years or so. If you do not believe
me, here are the facts.

John Trim, from the Courantyne, in Berbice, started his Test
career at age 32 in March 1947-48 against England at Bourda,
Guyana. He only played 4 Tests and got 18 wickets. Sven Conrad
"Charlie" Stayers started and ended his Test career in the same
series, against India in the Caribbean in 1962, at age 25. He
managed 9 wickets from 4 Tests. Come 1977, and yours truly, Colin
Everton Croft, a country boy from Unity, Mahaica, incidentally
the same village which produced Shivnarine Chanderpaul, somehow
managed to get into the West Indies cricket team as a fast bowler
when just turning 24. Somehow, after playing in 27 Tests, I
managed 125 wickets. Now comes R.D. King, "Kingie", born in
Georgetown, who played his first Test against South Africa in
1998 on that horrendous tour, aged 23. He has played 5 Tests so
far and has 16 wickets. You will notice that 1947/8 - 1962 -
1977 - 1998 averages out at about 17 years between each fast
bowler from Guyana moving to the highest level of playing Test
cricket, so at least time is on King's side. His time is right
now.

"I am going to beat your record, you know." King said to me,
with a great smile on his face, just before the 2nd Test match in
Jamaica. "That would be very good, but tough to do," I
retorted, "I averaged about 5 wickets per Test and got my 100th
Test wicket in about 19 Tests. Can you match that?" "Of course
I can" said King, with great confidence, "I plan to go all the
way to being the next Curtly Ambrose or Courtney Walsh. These
guys have been tremendous fast bowlers and great examples to
follow. You and Mikey (Michael Holding) and the rest have paved
the way well for guys like me and Frankie (Franklyn Rose). Now
that Walsh and Ambrose are on their way out, it is up to people
like me to make sure that the trend continues." I like that
attitude!

Let us be clear on something here. Reon King is a fast bowler.
To be honest, when I see him bowl, if my memory serves me
correctly, I am sure that he is faster than I was when I was 24
years old. I may have gotten faster by the time I was 28, about
the time that a fast bowler actually matures, but at the same
relative age as King, he seems to be much quicker that I was,
which is wonderful for him.

He has all of the right tools. Look at him approach the bowling
mark and you may notice that he actually seems to slow down a bit
as he delivers. That is because he is so relaxed, so "loose" as
he approaches, he is not unlike a middle distance runner going
through his paces. His upright approach and liquidity remind
many of Michael Holding's approach. Holding stretch a bit more
in approach, but the similarities are there too.

King is so slippery that he seems to make the ball "kiss" the
pitch, then actually gain speed after pitching. While that is
impossible, by all physical laws of motion, since even the
smallest hit on the ground would be friction, and hence the ball
must slow down fractionally, King is so fast that he actually
beats batsmen for sheer pace, even if the sideways movement of
the delivery is mostly miniscule. Having said that, the ball
that he bowled Murray Goodwin with in Zimbabwe's 2nd innings of
the 2nd Test was as good as you would see. It was fast, pitched
on a perfect length and cut into the batsman, passing between a
tentative bat and the less than outstretched pad, to hit the top
of the middle stump. It was really the best delivery I had seen
for many a year!

"You seem to be fitter these days, much bigger physically that a
year ago. Do you put that down to your body maturing, or have
you been doing specific weight and fitness regimens to get you
stronger?" I asked. "Not really", suggested King. "All I have
done is to work so much harder at getting fit that it is
happening naturally. I really intend to work even harder to do
well."

King has experienced the euphoria of Courtney Walsh getting his
world record 435 wickets and should take some inspiration from
it, though no-one will even remember that King actually got the
most wickets in the Test for the West Indies, seven. Sometimes,
that is the way the cookie crumbles, but that does have some
precedence. In 1981, everyone remembers a tremendous over bowled
by Mike Holding to Geoff Boycott, in Barbados, that is still
rated as the fastest over ever bowled in the Caribbean. That I
managed the most wickets in the game was never mentioned.
However, if King, like I did, could recognize his role in the
team, and understand, as I did, that every unit is made up of
specific parts and must work as a unit, not individuals, to
survive well, then he will do well despite his efforts sometimes
being overshadowed.

My biggest problem with the younger fast bowlers in the West
Indies, especially Reon King and Trinidad & Tobago's Merve
Dillon, is that they always seem to be injured. I have my theory
on that aspect of Caribbean fast bowling. Most of these new guys
never played cricket at primary school, due to that lack of
organized sport in most schools around the Caribbean. Many only
played when they were already 14 or 15 years old. Therefore,
their bodies never "grew" sports-wise as their ages advanced. In
other words, while the young fast bowlers were say 14, their
sporting bodies, the muscles and sinews used for the sport, are
only maybe 2-3 years old. By the time they are 24, when they
should start maturing, their bodies are only 10 - 12 years old.
That nurturing at primary school is often missing, and therefore,
while men, the body structure is so weak that it rebels and
injuries occur.

So far this year, King has shown that he might just be getting
over the problems of the fitness, but he will have to continue to
work non-stop to make sure that he does the right things to
produce. Another problem, his aggression, or lack thereof, also
seems to be improving. At least I saw him bowl three real
"bouncers", the fast bowler's weapon, in the Test in Jamaica.
That is more that King had bowled in the last three years, so
there is some improvement, even if it is not as much as should
be. Overall, though, Reon King is a very good prospect for the
future of West Indian cricket. As things are these days, he is
easily the best of the young group. I hope that he gets better,
and does better than I did!